Cost of living comparison
compared to
United States vs. Santa Monica Cost of Living Summary
United States is 10.8% cheaper than Santa Monica.
- Restaurants
-
pay 10.6% less in United States
- Groceries
-
pay 4.5% less in United States
- Transportation
-
pay 8.4% less in United States
- Housing
-
pay 31.7% less in United States
- Childcare
-
pay 16.6% more in United States
- Entertainment and Sports
-
pay 22.3% less in United States
- Clothing
-
pay 14.9% less in United States
Expenses including housing, entertainment and sports, clothing, restaurants, transportation, and groceries are lower in United States.
United States vs. Santa Monica Cost Breakdown
If you lived in United States instead of Santa Monica, you would:
pay 10.6% less for restaurants
|
Santa Monica
|
United States
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$25.00
|
$19.45
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$12.50
|
$11.12
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.83
|
$2.56
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.00
|
$2.00
|
|
Santa Monica vs. United States - Cost of restaurants
pay 4.5% less for groceries
|
Santa Monica
|
United States
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$4.41
|
$3.56
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$6.67
|
$6.50
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.71
|
$3.97
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$5.00
|
$4.27
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$6.33
|
$5.41
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.00
|
$2.37
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.87
|
$0.78
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.84
|
$2.04
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.53
|
$2.21
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.38
|
$1.34
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.22
|
$1.38
|
|
Santa Monica vs. United States - Cost of groceries
pay 8.4% less for transportation
|
Santa Monica
|
United States
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$4.74
|
$3.41
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$67.50
|
$65.85
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$32,727.50
|
$32,336.38
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$18.01
|
$17.61
|
|
Santa Monica vs. United States - Cost of transportation
pay 31.7% less for housing
|
Santa Monica
|
United States
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$69.00
|
$68.97
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$3,175.00
|
$1,664.59
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$2,533.33
|
$1,416.15
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$155.53
|
$150.19
|
|
Santa Monica vs. United States - Cost of housing
pay 16.6% more for childcare
|
Santa Monica
|
United States
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,762.50
|
$1,387.27
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$15,000.00
|
$23,196.46
|
|
Santa Monica vs. United States - Cost of childcare
pay 22.3% less for entertainment and sports
|
Santa Monica
|
United States
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$8.00
|
$5.84
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.58
|
$5.15
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$11.00
|
$9.90
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$90.00
|
$51.45
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$18.00
|
$13.64
|
|
Santa Monica vs. United States - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 14.9% less for clothing
|
Santa Monica
|
United States
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$61.25
|
$51.08
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$44.15
|
$41.81
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$100.09
|
$87.56
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$149.85
|
$112.04
|
|
Santa Monica vs. United States - Cost of clothing
The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you.
We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world.
Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025
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